Taking A New Path
by Ninetalesuk
Summary: Set between Chain of Memories and Hearts 2, Riku wonders what his next path will be while trying to remember a friend he has forgotten. When he meets Zero Into Darkness, his path becomes clear...


**Hello, what do we have here? **

**Why, it is! It's a new story made by Ninetalesuk! Wait, that's me! **

**Yeah, that's right, I've done a Kingdom Hearts story while I'm still doing my Mega-Crossover. However, I've done this story in under a day! Pretty impressive, huh?**

**This story is set in-between Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 2. Although, I haven't finished the first Kingdom Hearts game and I have yet to get Chain of Memories, dang.**

**Anyway, the business with Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix for the Final Fantasy stuff and the Disney Company for their… Disney stuff.**

**Anyway, let's begin!**

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_Why?_

So many questions...

_Why?_

So little time...

_Why?_

He lost two conflicting battles, against his best friend and the darkness in his heart. And he lost both these battles because he fought on the wrong side...

_Why?_

Riku gritted his teeth. Something didn't feel right... moments ago, he had been able to escape the mysterious Castle Oblivion with the help of King Mickey Mouse and the mysterious DiZ. However, on the path he had chosen, he and King Mickey got separated and he was now lost.

He wanted to repent for the actions he had performed by believing that witch, Maleficent, by believing that his best friend had betrayed him and it was up to him to save his other close friend, Kairi. However, his friend's heart wasstronger than Riku's, and he proved that power wasn't everything. Unfortunately, it was too late to learn this, for Riku had made a deal with the true enemy... Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness.

Riku paused, closing his eyes. _Why?_

_Why?_

_Why can't I remember him!?_

He remembered Kairi.

He remembered his family, waiting for him to return.

He remembered the place where they had hung out together, Destiny Islands.

Yet, he couldn't remember his lost friend's name... nor can remember **ANYTHING**! Had those two mysterious people done something while he was in Castle Oblivion? He could remember facing Lexaeus and Zexion, defeating them both with the unwanted help of Ansem himself.

Riku shook his fists in rage. "Why can't I remember?! Why!? Why?! **WHY?!?!**"

No answer...

With a heavy sigh, he continued his journey though the darkness... wondering where his chosen path would lead him...

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Moments later, Riku finally stepped out of the darkness to find himself near a strange mansion in a forest. He grabbed the locked front gates and shook them. "Hello? Hello?! Anyone there?!"

No answer.

Sighing, Riku sat on the grass carpeting the ground, confused as to what he should do next. He looked up at the sky, watching birds fly by through the air.

Sky...

Sky...

Sky...

Riku paused. "Sky... sky... Sora... Sora, why does that name sound so... familiar...?" He gasped. "Could it be-"

"We meet again, young wanderer of Darkness..." Came a calm voice behind him.

Riku quickly stood up, turning around to see an elderly man in red, royal garbs with a face covered in red bandages, only his mouth and one eye visible. He stepped back and narrowed his eyes. "DiZ..."

DiZ bowed. "I'm glad you've come, Riku... now, we can finally begin."

"Beginwhat?" Riku asked.

"The beginning of your journey of redemption..." DiZ said.

Riku turned his back to DiZ. "And why should I trust you?"

"Because, I'm the only one that can help you answer the questions which trouble your heart, Riku..." DiZ said. "After all, you can't remember your lost friend, right?"

Riku slowly glanced back at DiZ, sighing. "Was his name... Sora...?"

DiZ nodded. "Ah, so you do remember him..."

"Not much... all I know is that he's much stronger than me... in both heart and soul..." Riku said sadly. "Tell me... no, help me..."

DiZ bowed. "Very well... however, I have an interesting story that I would like to tell you."

Riku looked up, narrowing his eyes. "And that is...?"

"DiZ is not my real name..." Said the mysterious human. "My real name was stolen long ago..."

"Your... real name...?" Riku asked, looking confused. "What **IS** your real name?"

DiZ closed his eye. "Ansem... the Wise..."

Riku stepped back in horror. "What?!"

DiZ nodded. "Yes, I lost my name when my foolish apprentices continued forbidden research on hearts and banished me from my world. The man who turned my apprentices against me, the man who was once my most promising student...took my name..."

Riku snarled. "So, the Heartless that I'm suppressing isn't called Ansem?!"

DiZ shook his head. "No... His name is Xehanort, a foolish apprentice of a foolish man. If only I hadn't started this project, none of this would have ever happened."

Riku sighed. "We were both used... but even so, I still can't trust you. Being betrayed by people you trusted must have made you a bitter man..."

"As long as Xehanort's Heartless is sealed within your strong heart, half of my desire to see Xehanort suffer for the crimes he has committed has been fulfilled," DiZ said.

Riku blinked. "Half...?"

Chuckling, DiZ walked past Riku and placed his hand on the lock, causing it to glow and unlock, allowing the gates to open. "I'll bet you're wondering where you are..."

"That thought did cross my mind..." Riku said.

DiZ smirked. "Outside these woods is a place called Twilight Town. This mansion has been abandoned for many years, making it the perfect location to continue my research into ways of preventing my traitorous apprentices from reaching their goals... and I've uncovered something terrible."

Riku frowned. "And what's that?"

"Nobodies..." DiZ whispered.

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Riku followed DiZ into a small computer room underneath the mansion, going through a large but decrepit entrance hall and a library with a false floor to get there. Riku glanced around in confusion. "So, what are Nobodies...?"

"Whenever a Heartless is born from a heart with a strong will, a hollow white husk is formed as well. They lack emotions and the right to exist..." DiZ said, sitting down at his computer. "However, Nobodies are actually smarter than the Heartless."

"How do you mean?" Riku asked.

DiZ chuckled. "Heartless fight only on instinct while Nobodies work together as a group..."

Riku closed his eyes. "How... sad... to find creatures without the right to live..."

"You shouldn't feel sorry for them, considering what they've done to your memories..." DiZ said.

Riku looked up in surprise. "**WH-WHAT?!**"

DiZ slowly glanced at Riku. "Xehanort was able to retain his original form as a Heartless. In fact, thanks to Xehanort, all six of my apprentices became Heartless. Apart from Xehanort's Heartless, however, I don't know what happened to the Heartless of the other five." He smirked. "They must have failed and been turned into weaker minions of the darkness."

"What are you-" Riku started.

"When Xehanort stole my name and continued his forbidden research with the other five, not only did they become Heartless, but they turned into Nobodies as well," DiZ said. "And their will is so strong, they were able to retain theirhuman forms as well as their memories of their original lives. They're the highest ranking members of the Nobodies, **Organization XIII**."

"Organization... XIII..." Riku whispered.

DiZ nodded. "Yes... once they had 13 members, but after the events of Castle Oblivion, they're down to eight."

"Eight?" Riku asked, confused.

"Yes... six members were present in Castle Oblivion... Lexaus, Zexion, Larxene, Vexen, Marluxia and Axel. Only Axel survived the rest, whom were killed by Sora and yourself."

Riku gasped. "Sora... was there...?"

DiZ nodded as he got up from his chair. "Yes... each member of the Organization had their former names rearranged into a different configuration, adding an 'X' to it."

Riku paused. "Like... Xehanort... If you rearrange his name without the '_X_', it'll end up as... _No Heart_..."

DiZ chuckled. "Ironic that he had one... before he threw it away... I only wish I had never found Xehanort lying on the ground years ago, his memories of his previous life lost forever..."

"What's... Xehanort's Nobody called?" Riku asked.

DiZ pressed a button on his computer, opening up a door nearby. "Xehanort's Nobody is the leader of Organization XIII and, like his Heartless, uses my name to further his research... Xemnas..."

"The leader of Organization XIII, Xehanort's Nobody, Xemas..." Riku whispered.

"Riku, follow me..." DiZ said, walking towards the door. "I have something to show you..."

Riku did follow DiZ, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like whatever he found.

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DiZ led Riku through a bright corridor with large, teardrop-shaped tubes lining the wall. DiZ stopped near a couple. "Look at these two, Riku."

Riku frowned and walked over to the strange tubes in question and peered into one of them. There, he could just make out a sleeping white duck wearing blue mystical garments and a blue hat with a long tip that zigzagged down over the back of his head. "Wha... What?! He... He looks familiar..."

"His name is Donald, King Mickey's Royal Court Magician..." DiZ said.

"Donald..." Riku whispered before rushing over to the other tube, looking into it to find a sleeping black dog with a green shirt, black jacket, yellow trousers, big brown shoes, a strange brown hat and goggles. He shuddered. "I-it's Goofy..."

DiZ nodded. "Yes, Goofy... King Mickey's Captain of the Royal Knights..."

Riku stepped back in alarm. "Why did I forget them as well?!"

"Because... they're Sora's travelling companions..." DiZ said. He turned his attention to a door at the end of the corridor. "In there awaits your friend."

Riku stared at the door in surprise. "Sora..." He ran towards the door, eyes wide. "**Sora!!!**"

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Bursting through the door, Riku found himself in a huge white room with a massive, silver-white pod mechanism shaped like a flower in the middle of the room. He could make out someone sleeping inside that tube, suspended upright with his eyes closed. "S... Sora...?"

Sora was asleep.

"Wha... What have you done to him!?" Riku asked, whirling at DiZ in anger as the robed man entered the room.

DiZ shook his head. "In Castle Oblivion, two members of Organization XIII were plotting to remove Xemnas from his position as leader, Larxene and Marluxia. Their plan was to use Sora himself, a Keyblade wielder, to assassinate Xemnas. In order to control him, they tore apart his memories with the help of a young witch called... Namine."

Riku stood back in shock. "Na... Namine?!"

Thinking back, Riku remembered an innocent girl with bright blue eyes, a white one-piece dress, blond hair and light blue sandals. He knew she was special, but never expected that she had caused Sora to end up like this.

"Thanks to Sora, however, Namine decided to disobey Marluxia and give Sora back his memories. Unfortunately, Sora, Donald and Goofy will never remember their adventure in Castle Oblivion.." DiZ said apologetically. "I was able to find Namine, Sora, Donald and Goofy and bring them here."

"Sora..." Riku whispered.

DiZ closed his eyes. "They've been asleep for a year now..."

"What?!" Riku gasped.

"Sora's memories haven't been fully recovered yet..." DiZ explained. "Namine is trying to fix the mistake she has made, but she can't complete her task... because Sora is incomplete..."

"Incomplete?" Riku asked in disbelief. "How can he be incomplete?!"

DiZ looked at Riku. "Last year, in order to save your other friend, Kiari, Sora turned himself into a Heartless for a short time before being brought back by the light he was searching for..."

Riku blinked in stunned disbelief. "Sora... was turned into a Heartless...?" His eyes widened. "Wait! You mean to tell me that... Sora has a Nobody?!"

DiZ nodded. "Yes... he's the 13th and newest member of Organization XIII, Roxas. As long as Roxas continues to walk the worlds, Sora will never be whole again."

"Tell me, what do to fix him?!" Riku asked.

DiZ smiled. "Are you willing to do anything to bring your friend back?"

Riku nodded. "Yes, **ANYTHING**! No matter what the cost is, I'll bring Sora back!"

"Very well, but I must warn you... because Sora was a Heartless for a very short time, Roxas never got Sora's memories...you'll have to test him in a way that would cause him to react just like Sora would." DiZ said.

Riku closed his eyes. "I remember... the taunts I used on Sora and how he reacted..." His eyes flew open. "OK! If what you're saying about Roxas is true, I'll trust you!"

"You didn't trust me before?" DiZ asked, looking amused. "That's quite a shame, but I know you'll trust me because I know what I said is true..."

"Where is Roxas? Where can I find him?" Riku asked.

DiZ closed his eyes. "Organization XIII has a stronghold in a place called The World That Never Was. I can open a portal to take you there. I must warn you, though, that since Sora and Roxas are two halves of the same person...their Keyblade skills are the same as well."

Riku clenched his fist as he summoned his Keyblade, Soul Eater. "All right! I accept!"

DiZ nodded. "All right... good luck with your mission, Riku. Sora's fate rests in your hands."

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The World that Never Was...

Standing on top of a towering skyscraper, Riku wore a blindfold around his eyes while holding his Keyblade tightly. "I'll bring you back, Sora. It's my fault, so I'll make sure to put everything right... no matter what the cost is..."

**THE END**.

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**That's it for now. Thank you for reading.**

**Please leave a nice review rather than a flaming review. Or I'll get Donald's Ice spells out!**

**As for Riku's blindfold, I dunno when or where he put that on in the first place. If he put it on at the end of Chain of Memories, then whoops.**

**Until the next time, see ya!**


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